A Jerusalem District Court on Sunday sentenced Moshe Yazdi to 18 years in prison, minus time already served, following his conviction on multiple serious charges and financial crimes. Yazdi was acquitted on several other counts.
Since 1997, Yazdi served as rabbi of the "Amudei HaShalom" (Pillars of Peace) community in Jerusalem and headed a similarly named nonprofit organization. In these roles, he reportedly operated a soup kitchen, provided assistance to those in need, and delivered Torah classes. Alongside his public activities, he preached to his followers about "nullification of the intellect" and "faith in the sages", a concept requiring them to suppress their own opinions and feelings before what he called "Torah wisdom." He created the impression that he was one of the 36 hidden righteous individuals (a concept in Jewish mysticism) to ensure his followers would obey his instructions.
According to the factual findings detailed in the verdict, Yazdi presented himself as possessing divine inspiration (ruach hakodesh), claiming to consult with it or with deceased rabbis and righteous figures before offering personal guidance. He directed followers to carry out his instructions as part of this intellectual nullification, even when those directives lacked logic, contradicted accepted norms, or violated Jewish law.
Additionally, he taught in his classes that sins create "sparks of impurity" and that the way to repair them was for him, as a rabbi and righteous person, to "descend to places of impurity" and "sanctify the sparks of impurity." This was designed to make his followers believe in his fabricated powers so he could perform these so-called "repairs." Through these false representations, he caused several complainants to believe in him completely and submit to his will, while he harmed them and falsely presented the abusive acts as being for the purpose of "spiritual repair."
At the conclusion of the legal proceedings, Yazdi was convicted of serious offenses against two of the complainants and of financial crimes, while being acquitted of the second, fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth charges.
In the verdict authored by Presiding Judge Hagit Mack-Kalmanovitz, along with Judges Mordechai Kaduri and Ilan Sela, the court noted that the defendant maintained relationships over an extended period with women who approached him for counsel and help in his capacity as a rabbi and spiritual leader heading a religious community. The complainants consented to the acts based on fraudulent representations he made to them—that he possessed special mystical powers and that the acts would bring good into the world and lead to spiritual repair. The judges determined that through his actions, the defendant violated the physical and emotional integrity of the complainants, their autonomy, and all the values he himself was supposed to represent as a rabbi and community leader—values of Torah study and observance of commandments.
The court emphasized that Yazdi committed the offenses while exploiting the trust placed in him, taking advantage of the complainants' personal distress, their young age, and their susceptibility to influence. The case involved an exceptional scope of dozens and possibly hundreds of offenses committed against each complainant. The court further noted that the defendant never accepted responsibility for the crimes or the resulting harm, and even in his final statements to the court claimed he had sinned but not against the complainants, asserting in his view that they were responsible for the acts. The court also found that he conducted his trial manipulatively, abusing legal procedures.
The judges acknowledged that the many acts of kindness he performed, including operating a soup kitchen, providing financial and material assistance, and organizing celebrations for the needy, worked in his favor, but that this assistance was negligible compared to the harm caused to the complainants. In light of these findings, he was sentenced to 18 years in actual imprisonment, conditional imprisonment, and financial compensation to the complainants.
